This is probably the wrong place to rant- I assume most of you are big honda fans. Not me. Not any more.

This is the 2nd fit I've owned- a 2016 ex, less than 3 years old, 75k miles.
The first was a 2011 base model.
I traded in the 2011 when, on a long trip (400 miles from home) the AC broke. Repair bill for that (just to get it running enough to get it home) was about $1500. More than the car was worth at that point. So, caught between a rock and a hard place, I traded it in for my current ride, the 2016 ex.
I just retired, but before that I worked for a school district that had me on the road a lot- that's how I got to 75k miles in under 3 years.
Over the past 6 weeks or so, I've had the misfire issue that people have mentioned.
The "dreaded 4 malfunction lights on the dash" problem.

I found the honda service bulletin... new plugs, moved the coils around, 2 tanks of gas with chevron's techron to clean injectors... all without any major changes.
Still getting occasional misfires until yesterday- then I had my first round of "limp home".


Not willing or equipped to deal with fuel injection, I broke down and took it to the dealer.

$1700+ for the repair (with no guarantee that they'll need to do the valve work if that doesn't work).

Called American honda to see if they had any help here- Short answer, NO.

So, once again, stuck between a rock and a hard place.

I can't deal with a car that I'm never sure will get me where I'm going.

I'd feel like s**t selling this unrepaired to someone, knowing what I know about it.

And honda doesn't make it easy for an independent shop to fix these things

So, I ok'd the repair.... planning to get rid of this thing as soon as I can afterwards. I've had a lot of different cars over the years, as have my friends. Nobody in my memory has had to deal with this bs with their toyotas, nissans, fords, whatever.

So, like the subject line reads (and think about this yourself-)

NEVER AGAIN

 

That's about how long my injectors lasted 70 something three out of the four replaced plus a catalytic converter ouch I'm at 94 right now

 

I have to say you made a very poor decision in regards to the AC. I can't imagine why you would spend about $1500 on the AC just to limp home, especially when you said the car was worth less. In regards to the 2016 having injector issues. That should be covered under warranty, no? Finally, I can understand your frustrations, so far, you mentioned two issues with two cars. That would not be enough to think Hondas are trash. So that you have never heard of bs about the other manufactures? I can guarantee you that the grass is not greener on the other side. My advice, calm down and make your decisions logically and not from an emotionally break down. BTW, you must have been compensated dealy from the school district for using your personal 2016 EX for business travel.

 

Uhhh 75k is typically out of warranty unless you do an extended one.

Curious how a 5 year old 2011 would be worth less than a $1500 repair. I would have paid the $1500 as the car was probably paid off at that point. The repair would have been cheaper than paying monthly for another 3-5 years.

I've also seen on the forums at least a few folks who have had an independent mechanic fix the injector issue, or have done the repair themselves. So I would look at finding a good local mechanic in your area if you're will to save a little bit of money over the dealership costs. That probably doesn't help the medicine go down though. I have to empathize with the folks running into this issue as mine has done pretty well. I have a 2015 with about 76k on the clock now.

Good luck with whatever car you choose to replace the GK. I got a close look at a Corolla HB and it's pretty sharp.

 

The thing that burns me is my history with other big companies- GE and Subaru come to mind- who took an entirely different approach to customer service. 2 situations with products out of warranty, neither obligated to do anything. But their attitude at that time was, Wait... our cars (2 outbacks)/major appliance has a defect? Let's see what we can do for you-

Subaru did 2 head gasket jobs FOR FREE on 2 outbacks that were out of warranty..
GE sent a check to cushion the cost of an out-of-warranty repair.

Completely different attitude from Honda.

And, let's face it, needing fuel injectors replaced at 75k miles? That's a defect. It is obviously more than just my car.

But their attitude towards me was basically- Hey. You're out of warranty. We're not doing anything for you.

No concern about a defective product.

No concern about customer satisfaction.

No concern about their reputation.

The only thing that it seemed they could be concerned with is the bottom line- $$$

I'm lucky enough that this car is paid off. Imagine this happening to you and you're only halfway through the payments?

And yes, I could (maybe) find an independent shop that could do the work. But after the initial sticker shock, the thing that p***ed me off the most was (and still is) Honda's attitude.

My rant for the day-

 

Not all of us here are fanboys or fangirls. Honda has some real QC problems to address, and they're not doing a very good job.

The Honda reps used to hang out here and occasionally look into an issue, but I think they've left for the most part because of the litany of complaints. You have every right to not want another experience like this. I don't blame you.

 

Maybe it's a different Honda now from what it used to be but they've clearly gotten directions from up top to take a hard line on warranty. When it's over it's over. What's disturbing is that the problems which are frequently coming up - injectors and starters spring to mind - are not owner's fault but are defects in original Honda design or manufacturing which should have been covered by extended warranty, recall or some other consideration because of that. Apparently that's not in Honda's vocabulary any more. The 3 year warranty just doesn't provide long enough protection. I love my Fit, which is a newer one, and I haven't had any significant problems with it but looking at posts about how Honda is dealing with these problems I'd be hard pressed now to recommend any one buy any new Honda.

 

Yes, it does seem to be a sad situation. I'm worried about when my 2015 Fit is going cost me an arm and a leg.

As for the A/C, practically any repair is very expensive. My son paid a lot for an A/C repair on his Ford Taurus. Two weeks later, another A/C component failed. It would have cost a lot to repair that, so he didn't.

Let us know how that injector job goes. It was typical that they said they might have to work on the valves, too. I wonder if you could get more for the car selling it part-by-part.

 

It's pretty apparent that the Fit is probably coming in at close to cost for Honda or possibly even slightly above. The Magic Seat costs $300 above a traditional backseat if memory serves. This means they might be losing money on every Fit sold, or on a lot of them at least. The Fit is now Honda's loss leader, meaning they hope you move up to a CR-V, Accord or whatever. Cost of doing business.

The nasty side of me thinks that since the Fit is Honda's loss leader, corporate doesn't care if they lose customers here, because then they're losing less money than if they had actually sold a vehicle. Weird, yes. Possible? Of course.

 

I can assure you they aren't losing money on the Fit. The Fit never would have made production if Honda couldn't make a profit on it.

 

I doubt very much that they're losing any money on any Fit sold although certainly the profit margin is not that high. The car is manufactured in Mexico where labor and other costs are very low and there's probably some sharing of parts with the HRV which helps to keep costs low. If Honda was losing money on it they would quickly discontinue it and force buyers up to the Civic.

 

I dunno, folks. When corporate starts saying "we don't care" about injectors going out at 75K, that's also essentially saying, we're not in it enough to keep you as a customer, so we're just going to bail on you, thanks very much. It's almost as if Honda doesn't want to sell the Fit, but figures it has to have a low-price vehicle in the lineup just to attract business for their more profitable vehicles, which is where the real money is.

So even if the amount made is miniscule, it's obvious corporate doesn't want to put money into repairs that would keep the customers they are now doing a disservice to. What does that tell you about this company? It's a bit conflicted, to say the least.

 

I worked for 5 years as a Service Advisor and we don't know the details of the OP's situation and we're only hearing one side of the story. I can tell you that a lot of people don't want to take personal responsibility and expect an item to be warrantied forever. Maybe the car had never seen a dealership and the owner had no maintenance records? I've seen that before.

If you aren't servicing at a Honda a dealer then what is their or the factory's motivation for helping you? It's certainly your right to go wherever you want and still have a valid warranty but once that vehicle is out of warranty that obligation ends. I service my Hondas at the dealer and do some of the maintenance myself. Around here the dealer costs are very comparable to the independents. I actually got an out of warranty oil leak on my last Civic Si covered because of the relationship with my dealer.

People use the "Well, you've lost a customer excuse because you won't help me" a lot but I can tell you that sometimes its worth losing them because all they do is complain and want free stuff. On a side note, I left that job 6 years ago because people's expectations of spending money to maintain their vehicles is unrealistic and as mentioned above a refusal to take personal responsibility.

 

Makes sense. And if Honda losses customers because of the Fit, they will be losing Honda customers. Would someone hate the Fit so much that they buy a Civic? I wouldn't.

 

Yeah, we gotta put an end to all those people complaining here about their injectors and starters failing just out of warranty. They are so ungrateful....

 

The injectors are known to be bad. Even my Honda dealer admitted that. Honda lucked out that most injector problems occur after the warranty has ended.

Honda's parts prices are ridiculous. Maybe other brands charge comparable prices, but that doesn't make it right. Their service prices are also ridiculously high. Dealers should not pick and choose who they "help." When I have to bring a car into the dealer six times, and the problem still isn't fixed, my personal responsibility has nothing to do with the situation.

It took my dealer thirty-one months to repair a defective LaneWatch camera, despite the fact that I told them how to repair it based on what I had read online. Almost three years later, they did what I had suggested originally. I've lost track of how many times I brought the car in for that problem. Multiple calls and emails to Honda had no effect on the situation. "We're sure your dealer will take care of the situation."

 

If it's a problem that Honda won't acknowledge then that's a completely different scenario and probably requires a class action lawsuit because from a legal standpoint if the warranty is over, Honda's obligation is done.

I was only referring to out of warranty goodwill repairs in that they can and do pick and choose who they help.

 

Understood.

 

So exactly what “dealer service” is needed to keep the fuel injectors working and where is it listed in the owner’s manual?

 

Absolutely none. But if I'm a dealer and you haven't been a customer of mine since you hammered a salesperson for a deep discount years ago and are out of warranty looking for goodwill, what motivation do I have to help you? So I can make $100 on the next car you buy? No thanks.

I know I have the unpopular opinion here but how long should a company be responsible for something when the vehicle is past warranty?